Soccer 4 Explained: The Six Margin Bands
Soccer 4 looks like Soccer 6 at a glance, four legs instead of six, but the results work differently. Instead of picking a win, draw or loss, you are picking a margin band: how many goals the winning side won by, or whether a draw was 0-0 or had goals in it. This page walks through TAB's own rule for the six bands and shows what they look like against real, played matches.
The purpose, in TAB's own words
TAB's Chapter 6 defines Soccer 4 as selecting the result of four matches, with six possible results for each: "1 - Team A to win by 1 goal, 2 - Team A to win by 2 or more goals, 3 - a no score draw (0-0 only), 4 - a score draw (example 1-1; 2-2), 5 - Team B to win by 1 goal and 6 - Team B to win by 2 or more goals" (rule 6.4.1). It is the same six-band system TAB also uses for Soccer 1, so if you have played that pool, the logic will be familiar.
The six bands
| Band | Result | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Team A wins by 1 goal | 1-0, 2-1, 3-2, 4-3 and so on |
| 2 | Team A wins by 2 goals or more | 2-0, 3-0, 3-1, 5-1 and so on |
| 3 | No-score draw | 0-0 only |
| 4 | Score draw | 1-1, 2-2, 3-3 and so on, any draw with goals |
| 5 | Team B wins by 1 goal | 0-1, 1-2, 2-3 and so on |
| 6 | Team B wins by 2 goals or more | 0-2, 0-3, 1-3 and so on |
A real round, mapped band by band
TAB's own results feed, read today, shows the Soccer 4 pool that closed 2026-09-12 (program SGG, coupon V1 P2) settling with the winning combination "5/4/4/5". Matched against the actual scores in that round: M1 Aston Villa 1-2 Nottingham Forest is Team B by 1 goal, band 5. M2 Bournemouth 2-2 Brentford is a score draw, band 4. M3 Chelsea 2-2 Hull City is also a score draw, band 4. M4 Crystal Palace 2-3 Ipswich Town is Team B by 1 goal, band 5, matching the published combination exactly. Ten tickets held that exact combination and shared the R111,763.60 net pool for a dividend of R11,176.20 each.
A margin band only cares about the final goal difference and whether a draw had goals, not the exact scoreline. A 3-2 and a 1-0 are both band 1 for Team A; a 4-1 and a 2-0 are both band 2. Work out the goal difference first, then check whether it is 1 or 2-plus, before you mark your slip.
What counts as the result
The result is the score at the end of the normal 90-minute playing period plus any referee's optional (injury) time. It never includes extra time or penalty shootouts (rule 6.4.3.1), the same rule TAB applies across every one of its soccer pools.
Matches that are not played
A Soccer 4 leg not completed by 9am on the day after the last scheduled match day in that pool is deemed abandoned, and every band counts as correct for that leg (rule 6.4.5). TAB's own feed marks this "Field-Field": two real examples from the last two weeks, read today, are match 2 in the pool that closed 2026-09-16 (program SHH, coupon V1 P1) and match 3 in the pool that closed 2026-09-22 (same coupon). Soccer 4 only refunds the whole pool if all four legs are abandoned; a single Field leg does not trigger a refund.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between band 3 and band 4 in Soccer 4?+
Both are draws. Band 3 is a no-score draw and only covers 0-0. Band 4 is a score draw and covers any draw with goals, such as 1-1, 2-2 or 3-3. A 0-0 result only pays tickets that marked band 3, and a 2-2 result only pays tickets that marked band 4.
Does a 5-0 win count the same as a 2-0 win?+
Yes, for Soccer 4's purposes. Bands 2 and 6 cover any margin of two goals or more, so 2-0, 3-0 and 5-0 are all the same band for Team A, and the mirror is true for Team B on bands 5 and 6 in reverse. Only bands 1 and 5 are limited to an exact one-goal margin.
Does extra time change the Soccer 4 result?+
No. The result is fixed at the end of the normal 90 minutes plus any injury time. Extra time and penalty shootouts, where they happen in cup football, are never counted.
What happens if one of the four Soccer 4 matches is postponed?+
If it is not completed by 9am the day after the pool's last scheduled match day, TAB marks it abandoned and every band counts as correct for that leg, shown in TAB's own results feed as "Field-Field". The whole pool is only refunded if all four legs end up abandoned.
Reviewed for responsible-gambling compliance by Priya Naidoo.